Eminent domain no longer easy path for cities

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, October 7, 2009

It's said you can't fight City Hall. It is an aphorism with a lot of truth in it, but it's not always so.

A group of six homeowners in New London, led by Susette Kelo, fought off efforts to displace them and take their homes by eminent domain for almost a dozen years.

In the end they lost the case by a 5-4 vote before the United States Supreme Court, giving the cities the right to use eminent domain to take properties for private development.

They may have lost the battle, but they have won the war -- and an unexpected ally on their side was the stumbling U.S. economy.

Today, the area where Kelo's house once stood and the many acres around are barren except for weeds and debris left after the homes were removed.

An expected $1.2 million in tax revenues was the promise to New London by an anticipated building boom, that was to include residential, hotel conference, research and development space and a new state park. All of this was to benefit Pfizer's $350 million research center.

The ruling touched off a reaction in state capitals across the nation and 40 states quickly passed new rules and regulations, curbing the reach of eminent domain procedures.

The lesson for cities such as Norwalk is that eminent domain for any sort of private benefit is a risky path to follow.

The concept of eminent domain in the beginning was to allow government to take land by fiat as a last resort if it was needed for a public use, such as a high-way or a school. It was never meant to be the handmaiden to developers.

Kelo and her friends may have lost the case in the end, but the city of New London lost a lot more.